NASA seeks what lies beneath Jupiter’s clouds

Soon, we might have a clear picture of what lurks beneath Jupiter’s stormy clouds.

NASA’s Juno probe will depart for the gas giant on Aug. 5, seeking evidence of what lies “inside” Jupiter, according to the agency. Until now, thick clouds have kept the planet’s surface from being explored.

“Our knowledge of Jupiter is truly skin deep,” said Juno’s principal investigator, Scott Bolton in a statement. “Even the Galileo probe, which dived into the clouds in 1995, penetrated no more than about 0.2 percent of Jupiter’s radius.”

Researchers want to know how deep the planet’s giant red spot goes. How much water its surface contains. and what material comprises its core.

From NASA:

Juno will lift the veil without actually diving through the clouds. Bolton explains how: “Swooping as low as 5000 km above the cloudtops, Juno will spend a full year orbiting nearer to Jupiter than any previous spacecraft. The probe’s flight path will cover all latitudes and longitudes, allowing us to fully map Jupiter’s gravitational field and thus figure out how the interior is layered.”

Jupiter is made primarily of hydrogen, but only the outer layers may be in gaseous form. Deep inside Jupiter, researchers believe, high temperatures and crushing pressures transform the gas into an exotic form of matter known as liquid metallic hydrogen–a liquid form of hydrogen akin to the slippery mercury in an old-fashioned thermometer. Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field almost certainly springs from dynamo action inside this vast realm of electrically conducting fluid.

Among other things, Juno will return evidence of Jupiter’s powerful Northern lights. (See photo galley above for an example.) Unlike the Earth which responds to solar activity, Jupiter makes its own auroras.

Looking forward to more photos? Juno won’t reach Jupiter until 2016, so be patient.